Amy's Adventures: Ella {18 Weeks}

Well last night Ella thought it was playtime from 1:30 to 3am and again from 4:30 to 5:30am. I think I put her to bed almost a dozen times, and I can't remember the last time I changed her diaper twice overnight. But aside from last night, sleep has been much better the last few days! She has been taking easier, longer naps and waking up much happier. And I've actually gotten a few things accomplished!

It's amazing the differences in literature and recommendations on sleep for babies.
Put her in her bed awake so she learns to fall asleep on her own. Let her ~~scream~~ cry it out until she falls asleep. But don't let her cry for more than two minutes at a time. Pat her back and she'll fall right to sleep. Or you can rock her to sleep to help her relax. But don't rock her to sleep every night, because she'll get used to it. Feed her before bed, but don't let her fall asleep eating. Give her a bath every night to establish a routine. But don't bathe her every night, because her skin will get too dry. Keep her warm enough, but don't dress her too warm or she'll die of SIDS. Seriously, it's ridiculous. But for now, we've found a routine that works for us. Let's keep it up!

Thankfully, Ella didn't get the nasty cold that I had last week. She felt crummy for a couple days with a stuffy nose and a hoarse voice, but she's better now. [but can i just tell you how adorable a hoarse little giggle is?! so precious!]

She's paying more attention to things, but she gets bored easily too. In order to accomplish anything in the kitchen, she has to be right in the action watching. I had been putting her in her Bumbo chair on the counter [naughty, i know.], but she's getting strong enough that she leans over or arches her back, and it makes me nervous that she's going to tip over. [thanks for sharing the skull fracture via bumbo chair article, gary. paranoid mama!] And with my hands in chicken or flour, I can't react quite as quickly. So I tried out her high chair a couple days ago, and she loves it! It holds her snug enough that she can sit up well but not fall out, and she holds onto the tray and grabs her toys. It's great!

She's still loving bath time. She kicks and splashes, and she's recently wanted to play with the cup I use for rinsing. I tried giving her a bath toy, but apparently it's just not quite as fun as the empty sour cream container. [that's right, you can give her empty containers instead of toys. cheap date.]